In the book publishing flotilla, first come the galleys, then come the ARCs. An ARC is an Advance Reading Copy - not to be confused with an Advance Chewing Copy, something I've had to make clear to my dog - and today I received an early ARC of What We Found in the Sofa and How It Saved the World.

I like it. It looks like a book. It's a stack of paper pages bound together. I'm very fond of paper pages. They have their advantages. Imagine yourself sitting in an outhouse and discovering there's no toilet paper and all you've got is your Kindle.

If you were stuck in there with an iPad, though, there would probably be an app...